Western Albemarle got a balanced offensive effort and played lockdown defense to shut out Charlottesville 14-0 on Friday, spoiling the Black Knights’ senior night.
The Warriors scored three times in the first 3:24 and never looked back, getting goals from seven different players in the first half. William Jack Reichert had two in a row while Edgar Batchellar scored 19.5 seconds before the first quarter horn to give WAHS a 6-0 lead after one.
Austin Payne notched his second of the game with 9:25 to go in the second and Sam Stalfort had two in the period along with one by Andrew Krese as Western led 10-0 at the half.
“Charlottesville’s got some good athletes, and some guys who are injured, which didn’t help them,” Western coach Alex Whitten said. “We wanted to execute at a high level. We wanted to move the ball, share it, and play pressure defense and we got that tonight.”
Stalfort’s hat trick led the way for Western (9-4) while Payne and Reichert had a pair each. He scored in the second half as well along with Mark Finn Kattmann, Ben Christopher and David Smith Callaghan for the final margin.
“We’ve had a murderous schedule up until now,” Whitten said. “Getting out to a big lead allows us to rest a couple of guys and give others some important minutes off the bench, and we’re gonna need those guys as the weather warms up and the season goes along.”
Western’s dominance on the scoreboard was set up by its performance in the faceoff circle. The Warriors held a 13-5 advantage in draws on the evening.
Western has a quick turnaround, hosting Kettle Run on Saturday morning at 11 am.
